Tick Spray for Clothing
May 30, 2021 4:17 PM Subscribe
My backyard needs attention. My backyard has ticks.
I wear a coat with a tightly woven fabric (my old clean room garb) with gaiters, gloves and hat when clearing undergrowth in the back yard.
What should be sprayed on the protective clothing to further discourage the little bastards?
I use Sawyer brand premethrin spray and it totally works. (ETA: I also sprayed a hoodie because I like having a hood up so they can't land on my neck.)
posted by xo at 4:27 PM on May 30, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by xo at 4:27 PM on May 30, 2021 [2 favorites]
I go birding in tick-infested areas frequently and find permethrin to be very effective. I haven’t picked up a tick in years. In addition to the spray that lasts through a few washes, there are clothes that come impregnated with permethrin in such a way that it lasts much longer. They use various marketing names for it.
posted by jkent at 4:32 PM on May 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by jkent at 4:32 PM on May 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
I use permethrin coated socks when out in the woods. I read some research years ago that that is one of the most critical items of clothing to cover, as most ticks will get on you via that route. I have these and these from a few years ago. And bought a pair of these yesterday. I have never found a tick embedded in me.
posted by chiefthe at 4:47 PM on May 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by chiefthe at 4:47 PM on May 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
Also, this site hosted by URI has a lot of good information and suggestions about dealing with and identifying ticks. It was where I came across the study about socks, IIRC.
posted by chiefthe at 4:51 PM on May 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by chiefthe at 4:51 PM on May 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you have cats be extremely careful with permethrin: it is deadly to them.
posted by 100kb at 6:29 PM on May 30, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by 100kb at 6:29 PM on May 30, 2021 [7 favorites]
Permethrin will properly smite the awful little bastards.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:05 PM on May 30, 2021
posted by wenestvedt at 8:05 PM on May 30, 2021
I just did a little research, this was one of the articles I was reading which suggested 6 ingredients that the CDC recommends. I did some more research and looked at various product reviews and came to the conclusion that Picaridin was the option I wanted to try. So far so good.
posted by cali59 at 10:13 PM on May 30, 2021
posted by cali59 at 10:13 PM on May 30, 2021
Apply DEET to your tick clothing. It's effective, and not an insecticide.
https://www.consumerreports.org/insect-repellent/how-deet-and-permethrin-can-protect-you/
When you come in from outside, strip off your clothes without everting them, and put them in the dryier alone for a while on medium heat, to keep live ticks out of the house. Clean the lint screen afterwards.
If you see signs of deer in your yard, be particularly careful. They are lousy with them.
posted by the Real Dan at 12:59 AM on May 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
https://www.consumerreports.org/insect-repellent/how-deet-and-permethrin-can-protect-you/
When you come in from outside, strip off your clothes without everting them, and put them in the dryier alone for a while on medium heat, to keep live ticks out of the house. Clean the lint screen afterwards.
If you see signs of deer in your yard, be particularly careful. They are lousy with them.
posted by the Real Dan at 12:59 AM on May 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
Sticky lint rollers are also good for catching them before they attach.
posted by transient at 1:29 AM on May 31, 2021
posted by transient at 1:29 AM on May 31, 2021
You can make tick rolls. Mice carry ticks, esp. deer ticks. Put permethrin on cotton balls, put cotton balls in toilet paper tubes; leave them around the yard. Mice discover lovely cotton for nest-making, bring it home and kill ticks, reducing the population. I tried this; it helped at least some.
posted by theora55 at 7:31 AM on May 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 7:31 AM on May 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
I hunt and spend a lot of time off trail. I wonder if this is region specific, because even if I empty a bottle of the highest concentration DEET available it does nothing to stop ticks. I soak my clothes in permithrin rather than do the spray, seems to last longer. Also, boot gaiters & tuck in my shirt. Haven't found a tick on me since I started doing that.
The recommended strength for soaking is 1.5% solution of permithrin. I believe the army uses a much stronger solution than that. If you don't live in your permithrin soaked clothes like a park or army ranger would, I wouldn't worry about the long term effects of it vs. getting Lyme disease.
posted by bradbane at 12:40 PM on May 31, 2021
The recommended strength for soaking is 1.5% solution of permithrin. I believe the army uses a much stronger solution than that. If you don't live in your permithrin soaked clothes like a park or army ranger would, I wouldn't worry about the long term effects of it vs. getting Lyme disease.
posted by bradbane at 12:40 PM on May 31, 2021
We hike a lot in some of the most tick infested areas, once it gets over 45 degrees during the day we switch to pants and shirts that come with permithrin already integrated. There is a premium over regular hiking clothes, but if you keep an eye out you can get them pretty cheaply on sale.
Professionally treated permithrin clothes stay effective for years, or around 26 wash cycles - unlike soaking your own clothing which lasts only for weeks at a time and needs to be reapplied over and over, without being able to tell if it is still effective.
The only times on our hikes over the past decade that we’ve ever had tick problems was when we were wearing regular hiking outfits. (While Lyme disease is bad, at least you aren’t in too much danger of getting infected quickly, but the up and coming tick diseases can be caught in as little as 5 minutes.)
I don’t think this was linked earlier, but here is another overview on it from the wire cutter.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 4:42 AM on June 1, 2021
Professionally treated permithrin clothes stay effective for years, or around 26 wash cycles - unlike soaking your own clothing which lasts only for weeks at a time and needs to be reapplied over and over, without being able to tell if it is still effective.
The only times on our hikes over the past decade that we’ve ever had tick problems was when we were wearing regular hiking outfits. (While Lyme disease is bad, at least you aren’t in too much danger of getting infected quickly, but the up and coming tick diseases can be caught in as little as 5 minutes.)
I don’t think this was linked earlier, but here is another overview on it from the wire cutter.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 4:42 AM on June 1, 2021
You can make tick rolls. Mice carry ticks, esp. deer ticks. Put permethrin on cotton balls, put cotton balls in toilet paper tubes; leave them around the yard.
Tick rolls/tubes are a great idea. My personal experience is that they really do work provided you treat a yard during the right time of year and keep doing it for successive years. However, be advised that making your own might not be a great idea.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:48 AM on June 1, 2021
Tick rolls/tubes are a great idea. My personal experience is that they really do work provided you treat a yard during the right time of year and keep doing it for successive years. However, be advised that making your own might not be a great idea.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:48 AM on June 1, 2021
> the Real Dan:
They are lousy with them."
Surely you meant ticky.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:25 AM on June 1, 2021
They are lousy with them."
Surely you meant ticky.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:25 AM on June 1, 2021
All good suggestions. I also wear a pair of calf-high rubber boots when I've been in the garden - there's nothing for them to hang on to, I tuck my long pants into my boots, wear a light long sleeve shirt and a hat; I drop my clothes into the wash (and 10 minutes hot drier) when I come in and immediately take a shower and scrub myself using a Japanese salux towel. Ticks and what they carry terrify me.
posted by bluesky43 at 2:54 PM on June 3, 2021
posted by bluesky43 at 2:54 PM on June 3, 2021
Apparently you can have your own clothes professionally treated by Insect Shield (for around $8.95 per item), according to this new How to deal with Ticks guide from the Wirecutter. It’s a pretty good summary…
And yeah, the ticks are out of control on Long Island this year…
posted by rambling wanderlust at 4:33 AM on June 7, 2021
And yeah, the ticks are out of control on Long Island this year…
posted by rambling wanderlust at 4:33 AM on June 7, 2021
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posted by fritley at 4:26 PM on May 30, 2021 [14 favorites]